TheDailyBeast.com: The Top 10 Banned Books

‘The Hunger Games’ and More Top 10 Banned Books

The American Library Association just released its list of the top 10 “most frequently challenged books of 2011.” From “The Hunger Game”s trilogy to “Brave New World,” see the bestsellers that parents and teachers have been trying to ban from the book shelves.

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The American Library Association just released its list of the top 10 “most frequently challenged books of 2011.” From “The Hunger Game”s trilogy to “Brave New World,” see the bestsellers that parents and teachers have been trying to ban from the book shelves.

The “Internet Girls” series, which started in 2005 with "TTYL," is written entirely as instant messages among a group of friends. The series follows the girls from middle school to high school and deals with issues such as casual experimentation with sex, drugs, and alcohol—all while the girls use dirty words as they discuss their encounters. The first book in the series, "TTYL," was banned from a town in Texas in 2008, after parents complained about the sex and profanity in the book. But author Lauren Myracle seems unfazed by the controversy. “My favorite comments come from girls who say, ‘I feel like you’ve given me a self-help book because my parents won’t talk about this.’ When I was a kid, I read Judy Blume to figure out what a hard-on was and what to do when you got your period, so when people say to me, ‘You’re this generation's Judy Blume,’ I am wildly honored by that,” she says.

Kim Dong Hwa’s trilogy about a young girl coming into her womanhood in a small Korean village made it to the top 10 list for the first time this year. “The Color Trilogy” is a series of graphic novels about a girl growing up, and many people were troubled by the highly visual depictions of nudity and sex education.

Even though the movie has made a fortune, it seems not everyone is quite so hungry for "The Hunger Games." The trilogy was No. 5 on the list last year, but moved up to No. 3 this year. This year complaints about the book were harsh, including that it is anti-ethnic, anti-family, satanic, and violent. The trilogy’s author, Suzanne Collins, has said she is aware that “people were concerned about the level of violence in the books. That’s not unreasonable. They are violent. It’s a war trilogy."

Though it was first published in 2005, this educational children’s book made the list for the first time this year. It’s designed for children whose mothers become pregnant again. But it seems some parents thought it was a bit too graphic. According to the ALA, concerns included, “nudity; sex education; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group.”

Sherman Alexie’s semi-autobiographical book about a young buy growing up on an Indian reservation who yearns for a better life, has previously been included on the list and made it again this year largely because of racism and offensive language. Alexie thinks the criticism of his book is overblown. “Almost every day, my mailbox is filled with handwritten letters from students—teens and pre-teens—who have read my YA book and loved it. I have yet to receive a letter from a child somehow debilitated by the domestic violence, drug abuse, racism, poverty, sexuality, and murder contained in my book,” he wrote last year.

The "Alice" series follows Alice McKinley from her childhood until she reaches the age of 18. Author Phyllis Reynolds Naylor plans to write 28 books altogether and since they deal with Alice’s teenage years, the books cover a variety of topics that some parents find objectionable and have often made the list in the past for nudity and profanity.

Aldous Huxley’s legendary novel about a dystopian future is a longtime recipient of complaints and banning. It has been banned from a number of areas since it was first published. At one point it was outlawed for making promiscuous sex “look like fun.” Sex played a role this year as well, but complaints also included insensitivity, nudity, and racism.